Hotter Than…

February 9, 2025 | paulamyes

… than a Vindaloo Curry with extra chilli and a side serving of chilli. Man has it been hot. I mean it’s been so hot that your eye balls sweat. Try and take a cold shower to cool down and the water coming out of the cold tap is hot. The dog refuses to go for a walk because the pavement is blisteringly hot. We did get a little respite for a day, the temperature dropped by 10º to 34ºC and everyone said it was chilly enough to look for a sweater. The third round of the seventh circle of Dante’s Inferno is a great Plain of Burning Sand scorched by great flakes of flame falling slowly down from the sky and it is an apt description of this summer here in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. Cyclone Sean has a lot to answer for.

Kaa-kaa or Laughing Kookaburra by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — A very happy looking Kaa-kaa or Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae).Avon Trail, York, Western Australia.

Yet I’m amazed how the natural world carries on. The Rainbow Bee-Eaters chicks have successfully fledged and are busy building themselves up for the long flight north at the end of March. Splendid Fairy Wrens, Thornbills and Silvereyes still look for insects in the undergrowth. Kookaburras, crows and magpies can be seen looking for the unwary to feed upon. The farmers paddocks are now just bleached stubble. The mice and other small animals that live in them have nowhere to hide and are easy pickings for the Black Shouldered Kites and Nankeen Kestrels.

Djer-djer by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Female Djer-djer or Splendid Fairy-wren (Malarus splendens subs splendens). Avon Trail, York, Western Australia.

Birin-birin by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Birin-birin or Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) in the last light of the day. Avon Trail, York, Western Australia.

Walking along the river in the early morning or late evening it’s possible to see the birds, but they quickly retreat to places of deep shade as the temperatures rise. Come about 10 o’clock in the morning until about five in the afternoon they are almost totally silent. Despite the heat there is still quite a volume of water in the river. It is the water that enables the wildlife to survive.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?

January 26, 2025 | paulamyes

Well it wasn’t Sidney Poitier that’s for sure.

Things were just winding down for the evening when the Beloved Significant Other announced that there was a raptor eating a bird in our drive. I ran and grabbed the the first camera to hand with a long lens attached – my Canon 80d with Sigma 150-600mm lens. Using the dustbins as cover I managed to get quite close. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at in terms of species – at first I thought it was a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) but I wasn’t entirely convinced. I did know what it was eating – a Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) as there are plenty of them in the neighbourhood. It was quite a nervous bird constantly scanning the environment between mouthfuls. Like most raptors it had merely stunned its prey and it was a bit hard to watch as the dove squirmed about while being eaten. It died when the contents of the chest cavity were removed. But that’s nature for you – incredibly beautiful but undoubtedly cruel.

Djili-djili by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Djili-djili or Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrhocehalus) eating a laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) in our driveway.

I didn’t look at the photos until the morning. First off I marvelled at how well the 80d coped. It was the last stages of dusk and quite dark which meant using ISO 12800. The files were incredibly noisy but they cleaned up very well in Topaz DeNoise AI. The autofocus system on the 80d is very primitive compared to modern mirrorless cameras that now have bird detect autofocus, but it did a great job with only a couple of frames out of the 200 I shot being out of focus.

Canon EOS 80d — The Canon 80d – it maybe getting on a bit, but it is a very capable camera.

The Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 DG Contemporary lens. It offers a real bang for the buck.

What was the bird? Well it wasn’t a Peregrine Falcon, but a Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrhocephalus).

The Dutiful Father

January 19, 2025January 19, 2025 | paulamyes

They say “familiarity breeds contempt” and I think that is true of one of Australia’s most common birds – the Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). They are one of the few species of Australian birds that have benefited from land clearance and urbanisation and so they are seen in most towns and cities. Most people are so accustomed to their presence in environment that they barely give them a thought. I must say that I am one of them. If I look at my photo library in the last twenty years I’ve only taken 11 photos of a Magpie-lark while in the last five years I’ve taken 77 photos of White-faced Herons.

Diliboort by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Feed Me! Fledgling Diliboort or Magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca) demanding food. Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

The other day I’d been on a Kingfisher stakeout and I was just walking up the river to see what the Rainbow Bee-eaters were up to. When I noticed this pair of male fledgling Magpie-larks creating a hullabaloo. Waiting a few minutes I saw an adult male fly in and feed them. He was very conscientious making sure to feed each one in turn. He’d then fly off and walk around the grass in the park looking for bugs and worms and when he had a beak full he return back to his charges. In the half an hour I watched them I didn’t once see the mother. Perhaps she was taking a well earned rest somewhere.

So watching and photographing those interactions has made me double the number of photos of Magpie-larks in my library and reminded me not to ignore the less charismatic birds.

The Happy Couple

January 12, 2025 | paulamyes

I’ve been enjoying watching the Rainbow Bee-eaters. This year it appears that only one breeding pair have returned to York. This is the lowest number I’ve seen in York in the last twenty years. Despite that the pair we have make for delightful watching.

Just Splendid

January 5, 2025 | paulamyes

One of the delights of walking through any natural environment at this time of year is seeing male Splendid Fairy Wrens in their breeding plumage. I regularly walk along the Avon River photographing the birds I see, and I hadn’t seen one for a couple of years. Usually they can be seen in the dense low level foliage or on the ground feeding on insects, but over the last few years the wonderful folk at the York River Conservation Society have been clearing out the feral plants and replanting natives. This unfortunately meant that there wasn’t a lot of undergrowth to provide suitable habitat. But joy of joys now that the bush is growing nicely and maturing the Splendid Fairy Wrens are back! It is terrific to see them again.

Christmas Spider

December 25, 2024 | paulamyes

What could be better than spending Christmas morning than looking for Christmas Spiders aka Jewel Spiders.

Christmas Spider by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — The Christmas Spider or jewel spider (Austracantha minax) is associated with the comming of Christmas in Western Australia.

Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2024 | paulamyes

Koobanmokin by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Koobanmokin or Red-capped Robin (Petroica goodenovil).

Walk On The Wild Side

December 15, 2024 | paulamyes

Gotta confess that it’s getting hard to get up at 4am to go and photograph birds, so of late I’ve started going out in the evening. Living at this latitude I’m envious of those who live further away from the equator as their dawn and dusk lasts longer. Here it’s done and dusted in less than an hour. Anyways we have to make the most of what we have and I’m quite enjoying the evening walks along the river.

Giant grasshopper or hedge grasshopper (Valanga irregularis).Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

Last Monday as I was driving down to the river I noticed that the car had got a new bonnet mascot in the shape of a giant grasshopper (that’s the species name and an apt description). Initially I thought it will be blown off or it would abandon ship after a few minutes, but it resolutely clung on the windscreen wipers and was there when I reached the river.

Marangana by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — A promenading pair of Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata). Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

Kool-boort by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Kool-boort or Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens). Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

Heading down the river it quickly became apparent that as far as the birds were concerned things were winding down for the day. A pair of Australian Wood Ducks promenading along the river bank caught my eye. Normally quite skittish they were accepting of my presence and allowed me to get a few photos. Mindful of the disappearing light I pressed on. At the swing bridge I met the psycho Willie Wagtail that resides there. He really is the most belligerent little bird I’ve met. He chases off all threats to his territory with great gusto. Even as far as having a go at people and dogs on the other side of the river. He really has a go at our dog Frida. Fifty grams of feathers and fury hurls itself at Frida pecking her face and backside. Frida for her part just wears this bewildered expression and good-naturedly just walks on trying to ignore it.

Djidi-djidi by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — The psycho Willie Wagtail let me know that it is really, REALLY cross. Djidi-djidi or Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys). Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

When I got to Monger’s Crossing the dropping water levels had brought the white-faced herons out in numbers. There were nine or ten of them there looking for food in the shallows. I couldn’t get close enough to them to take any photos, so I just watched them from a distance. As the sun started to dip below the horizon they started looking for a roost and I was able to photograph them as they did this. I stayed till dark and then walked back to the car.

Wayan by Paul Amyes on 500px.com — Time for bed. Looking for a roost. Wayan or White-faced Heron (Ardea novaehollandiae). Avon Walk Trail, York, Western Australia.

Earlier in the day I was feeling a little jaded with going to the river. I felt it was becoming boring photographing the same area over and over again, This evening reminded me of how lucky I am to live here and have access to all this wildlife.

We’re Off To See The Show

December 1, 2024 | paulamyes

Not The Wild West Show, but the York Show. We’ve lived in York for nearly twenty years and this was the first time I’d been. The York Show is your typical Australian country town agricultural fair. There are displays of livestock, trade stands for agricultural machinery, arts and crafts exhibitions and awards, and most importantly for the kids a bit of a fun fair with a fireworks display in the evening. I didn’t really know what to expect, so I took my Olympus OM40 and two lenses – a 35 and a 135. I loaded up with Ilford XP2 and decided to photograph anything that took my fancy. The show was held in September and it’s taken me this long to get the film developed and scanned. The following are just a few of my favourites from the day.